Tag: qso

Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee

Dodge City, KS – Memphis, TN
Daily Mileage: 749
Total Mileage: 7219
Total Number of States Traveled: 29

Nendels Inn
2523 E Wyatt Earp Bl
Dodge City, KS 67801


I got out of Dodge Friday morning and continued east, dropping down to US54 passing through Greensburg, Brenham, and Wellsford. I got on a local repeater and talked to Larry, a retired teacher who taught High School in Cunningham and now works for the Department of Agriculture as an inspector. He had the day off and was running some errands in Pratt, located at the crossroads of US 281 and US 40. We talked a little about the war in Iraq, Larry had former students who’d served over in Iraq and was dubious of the press coverage and concerned about what was happening over there. Larry also recommended filling up in Goddard, as opposed to waiting until I got to Wichita to get a cheaper price.


While approaching Wichita, I realized I had forgot (again) to load my required maps onto my Pocket PC. I found a Starbucks on the western side of Wichita where I refilled my coffee mug and pulled out the laptop and Pocket PC to get my maps squared away. But something went terribly wrong… the map loading program just kept going, and going without completing. I tried a few times, but I was loosing daylight and knew I still had many miles before Memphis.

I kind of panicked – I’d been relying on my Pocket PC/GPS combo the entire trip… giving me turn by turn instructions and almost always getting me exactly where I needed to go. I’d purchased a US road atlas way back in North Adams, MA before I’d developed full confidence in my Pocket PC/GPS system. Now I had to use a paper map. I had to actually know where I was going, instead of blindly relying on a computer.

After a little confusion on the I-35 Kansas toll road (entering the toll road and heading north rather than south – having to get off, pay 25 cents and get back on the other direction) – there was a lot of cursing on my part during this process. Heading south on the Interstate, I picked up my speed quite a bit, down into Oklahoma, getting on another toll road (US 412) towards Tulsa. It seemed like it took forever to pass through Tulsa and make my way south east on the toll road heading for I-40.

Meeting I-40 and continuing east, I crossed into Arkansas, through the down of Fort Smith as dusk approached. While Kansas was as flat as everyone says, Oklahoma started into some rolling hills, becoming much more pronounced traveling through western Arkansas. Up, down, turn and twist as I made steady progress through Little Rock and on to Memphis. I had a nice conversation with a ham that had been traveling from Wichita Falls, TX to Little Rock, AR – Steve is an instructor at Sheppard Air Force Base and was formerly a crew member for both EC-130s and AC-130s, spending some time in Tucson previously.

I was really missing my Pocket PC/GPS when I rolled across the Mississippi into Memphis. It was around 11:30pm and the motel I’d booked was on the east side of Memphis in an area called Cordova. My paper map provided little detail and I had to pull over, break out my laptop and fire up the Microsoft Streets & Trips software. After an hour, I finally found the day’s destination.

California & Nevada

Sunnyvale, CA – Ely, NV
Daily Mileage: 571
Total Mileage: 5483
Total Number of States Traveled: 23

Great day and wonderful weather. Topped off the gas tank ($2.54 a gallon…. what kind of craziness is that?) and headed towards Tahoe. I picked up US 50 on the outskirts of Sacramento and continued east, climbing into the mountains. Stopped by In-N-Out Burger in Placerville for my Double-Double fix. I found a plateau just outside of Placerville where I was able to talk to KD6EUG back into the valley. The drive into the Sierras was gorgeous – the roads were great, some snow. Pulling in to South Lake Tahoe I realized I hadn’t loaded the Nevada map into my Pocket PC… which would prevent my GPS from talking me through Nevada to Ely. Seeing a Starbucks, I parked and hauled in my laptop along with my coffee mug and loaded up the maps.


I’d only been to Lake Tahoe once before (when I was in the 5th grade) – what a beautiful place.


After circling counterclockwise around the southern part of Lake Tahoe, I crossed into Nevada… with all the casinos. Heading east, I approached Spooner Summit and the downhill ride into Carson City. On a local repeater I had a great conversation with Jo Anne who was down in Carson City. I told her I was planning on taking US 50 out to Ely and she gave me a few tips – watch out for wild horses on the highway! She also described how her local ham club provides communication support to the annual reenactment of the Pony Express that spans the length of Nevada. I passed the Nevada State Capitol and headed east out of town.


I made it to Fallon by sunset, refueled and continued east. It’s hard to say what Nevada looks like after Fallon, because once the sun set – it was pitch black. There were about a billion stars out – but only three trucks passed during the next five hours. Austin, Eureka… and finally Ely. For some reason I imagined Nevada would be flat – but I was up at 7,000 feet, rolling up and down a zillion summits.

Ramada Inn & Copper Queen Casino
805 Great Basin Blvd
Ely, NV 89301

Montana, Idaho, Washington

Whitefish, MT – Spokane, WA
Daily Mileage: 262
Total Mileage: 3723
Total Number of States Traveled: 20


I was in no rush to depart Whitefish – the trip to Spokane (while still staying on the less direct US 2) would be a relativity short day. I finally got a Montana ham on a 2m repeater as I left Whitefish – he promised me an easy ride to Spokane and said US 2 would provide a nice trip.


The road headed west through the town of Libby and Troy, crossing the border into Idaho – paralleling the Kootenai River flowing in from British Columbia. The road summited as I entered Idaho and the light rain turned to a wet snow. Bonners Ferry, Sandpoint, and Priest River – and I was through Idaho into Washington State. The snow turned to a heavy rain… a typical Washington welcome. The remaining ride was an uneventful trip into Spokane – which was a much larger city than what I’d imagined.

Red Lion Hotel At The Park
303 W. North River Drive
Spokane, WA 99201

Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota

La Crosse, WI – Minot, SD
Daily Mileage: 736
Total Mileage: 2735
Total Number of States Traveled: 17


I departed from La Crosse, Wisconsin (located on the eastern bank of the Mississippi) and headed east on I-90 for 27 miles until I hit the small town of Sparta, where I took Wisconsin State Route 27 north toward Eau Claire where I picked up US 53 north. The dairy farms were still covered with snow, but although the day started out pretty cold, it was in the mid-forties by lunch.
I rolled into Superior, Wisconsin and crossed into Minnesota and the city of Duluth on the western shore of Lake Superior:


… I talked to a ham while passing through Cameron who told me just earlier this week the first ship came into Duluth as the ice is starting to break up. Duluth is built up on a steep hill over looking Lake Superior. After climbing to the west, I rejoined US Route 2 – the road I started out on when I left Plymouth, Mass.
I had an enjoyable conversation with a ham near Deep River who ended up having two kids who had gone to my rival High School back in Sunnyvale, CA. As I approached Bemidji the repeater was pretty quite, except for one conversation I heard between three hams who were making coordination to help about with the funerals that will take place this Saturday. Most of the stores along US 2 had their flags at half mast, mourning the terrible loss at Red Lake High School…


I made good time through the rest of western Minnesota, stopping for fuel and food in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The sun set as I continued west on US 2 – and I watched as the temperature slowly dropped. It’s suppose to be 9 degrees tonight here in Minot…. but I’m guessing that’s probably pretty warm for the locals.

Best Western Kelly Inn
1510 26th Avenue SW
Minot, ND 58701

New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts

Cape May, NJ – Hyannis, MA
Daily Mileage: 411
Total Mileage: 608
Total Number of States Traveled: 8

It was a pretty dreary day – rain in the morning and it lasted up into New York. I got my introduction to Toll Roads in New Jersey. I was driving along and all of a sudden – BOOM – cough up 35 cents. Luckily I had a good pile of change. The Toll Booth Lady on the George Washington Bridge called me “hon'” – I felt like a local.

I crossed into Connecticut and had originally wanted to drive by Yale (there’s a Starbuck’s with WiFi), but was running behind schedule – so I just blasted on through. I stopped in Rhode Island for gas and food then headed toward Cape Cod. Had a nice QSO with N1KO while driving through Providence.

It was dark by now and I had just made it into Hyannis when my Belkin’s Bluetooth GPS ran out of juice. The Econo Lodge I’m staying at is on 58 East Main Street – I’d plugged in 57 West Main Street… so I ended up going in circles for about an hour until I figured out I was on the wrong side of Hyannis. I finally got turned around and found the place. Frustrating end to a long day.